Evaluation
The first part a client project is to contact the client and discuss what you aim to do for them. Such I have chosen, the best way which I have learnt to do this is by emailing them. Although emails are easy to ignore, they are much more professional to use and they are easy to organise. By emailing my client I was able to clearly find the conversation and reference what the client suggested, and it was all in one place.
One thing that helped was having a clear understanding before hand about the key questions I needed to ask to first of all get the ball rolling in terms of conversation, but also find out the relevant information during the initial client meeting. This ensured I was asking the correct questions and also helped made me feel and look more confident in front of the client when I actually wasn’t.
During the meeting I made notes, this was a positive action to take as this made the planning process a lot easier and sped up the project as a whole as I didn’t have to sit and remember what was said, it was all written down in front of me and I could reference parts in my response brief so that I could reiterate what was said by the client.
The response brief I felt was a good idea as it gave a clear understanding to myself and the client what was needed from either parties, what the plans were, how the item would be delivered and other questions that the client could have had. The only problem with my brief was that it was too wordy. A client comes to you as you are the expert in their eyes. They don’t know all the jargon for filmmaking. If I was to rewrite a response brief for another client I would stick to the basics and keeping it client friendly, also easier to understand. However for my benefit, this worked well during the rest of the planning process as I was able to look back and see what was needed for the project to be completed. Also having referencing links in the brief helped the client see what to expect as the end product, this was also a good way to see what the client does and doesn’t like before going backwards and forwards with different edits.
Particularly for this project it was difficult to know exactly what shots I wanted and needed. Prior to filming this project I filmed an event. This was useful as I could use the same principles to film this project. But, by creating a shot list I had a brief idea of what I could get so I wasn’t thinking on feet all the time I was at the salon, this came in handy as I captured most of the shots planned but I also film other things as it was an ever-changing environment with people coming in and out. Shot list definitely were useful in this project and would definitely be useful in other projects such as this one, even if it’s a brief shot list, it helps you get an idea of what you need to get.
With a shot list I also created a storyboard, this wasn’t as useful as again, I wasn’t too sure what I was expecting to see when I got there, in terms of customers. The only time it became any use was in the editing stage as the storyboard I drew helped me order the footage on the timeline.
Finally, the shooting schedule. This was very useful in terms of arranging the shoots. With help from my client I was able to get two shooting days, this allowed me to arrange what I needed to get on both a quiet and a busy day at the salon. By having the schedule made I was able to reference back and see exactly which shots were needing to be film on that day.
The planning I have produced for this project has been enough to arrange my own plans and to keep my client up to date with the process. As I was working on my own there was no need for a call sheet. However, one thing I should have completed if I was to completed this professionally would be a risk assessment. Particularly in the salon it was full of people coming in and out and dangers everywhere. This could have been a problem in the real working world which is why I will produce one for the next project I undertake.
-Joshua Poole- 